Puerto Viejo

What a beautiful weekend! I had the chance to go to Puerto Viejo for a beach wedding and it was so wonderful!! We drove down Saturday morning and I was able to stay until late Sunday afternoon. Puerto Viejo is on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica and it is an awesome city. It’s very rasta, or rastafari, and laid back. If you’ve never seen dreadlocks before just head down to Puerto Viejo, you’re sure to see them every time you turn around! The people there are so friendly and seem very happy. There are a lot of Europeans and it was nice to be in a town where most everyone spoke English, it was a welcomed break for my brain! It’s known to be a weed-smoking party town and there are plenty of ministry opportunities for when we go back during our outreach. But this weekend was simply for pleasure, and God knows I needed it! I stayed with a few other people and it was great to have a relaxing time away from the San Jose base. The weather was gloriously hot and sunny, which was such a nice change from the cool, rainy weather we are used to in San Jose. We ate delicious food and did some shopping in the main part of town, which is just off the beach. I even got to eat cacao; the fruit whose seeds are used for chocolate! We also rented a golf cart and cruised around for the afternoon. Of course we also spent some time on the beach and in the water. This was my first time to swim in ocean water where you could actually see the bottom! I was so happy about that until I took one wrong step and got pinched by a crab. For those of you who know me well, you know that I’m not one to swim in water unless I can see the bottom so the fact that I have swam in the ocean during my time in Costa Rica is really quite miraculous. However, since my crab incident as well as with others being stung by jellyfish, my reasoning is justified and I’m back to not wanting to swim in water that I can’t see in. Perhaps I will one day conquer this fear but for now, I’m content just getting my feet wet! Anyway, in Puerto Viejo you can get hotel rooms really inexpensive so I was able to have an incredibly inexpensive mini-vacation. I shared a room with another girl and we only paid $10 each for one night. The room had two beds and a bathroom, very basic and small but exactly what we needed. We also had a porch with a hammock, which was so comfortable! The place we stayed was set back off the main strip so it was very quiet and the landscaping was done so there was quite a bit of shade, which made it much cooler. Besides coming back covered in bug bites, around 60-70 to be exact, I am so refreshed and rejuvenated after my time away.

Saturday night after the wedding we had a bonfire on the beach and I had a chance to lie in the sand and look up at the stars. It was one of my favorite times of the whole weekend. You could see hundreds of stars and it seemed like more were appearing every minute. I was reminded of how big God is and of the beauty He gives us. I don’t know how anyone can not believe in God when they see the beauty of nature around us; it’s simply beautiful yet so detailed and complex that I don’t see how anyone can deny the Creator of it all!